Hubs, A-spokes and B-spokes

As well as being regional Co-investigators, those in the four global regions are considered ‘Hub Leads’, as they represent the contact point for the other countries in their hub. Each of the Hub Leads must gather data for their own countries, with 9-10 other countries taking part as ‘spokes’ in this hub-and-spoke model. The regional Co-investigators, as Hub Leads, must coordinate the data collection for each of the spoke countries in their individual hub regions.

The researchers in each of the spoke countries are known as ‘Expert Researchers’, and are made up of people who are experts in teaching English as a school subject, and education policy. These spoke countries are categorised into two types: A-spokes, and B-spokes (B-spoke countries will perform additional research activities). The Hub Leaders’ countries are all categorised as B-spokes.